How to store photos from old iMac

[Traveldog]

Hi I recently bought a new M4 imac to replace my old 2009 imac. The 2009 still has all my old photos on it around 3000 which I dont want to clutter my new computer with but would like to save them to some sort of device that I can plug into my new computer and see the pictures when needed and know that they are stored safely for years.

Can any one give me some ideas , im not keen on the idea of backing them up to a web site, would prefer some sort of usb stick device etc. that is easy to use and can also accommodate more pictures for future photos.

Thank you

 

[apostolosdt]

Making a wild guess, you are talking about 30 GB lot. With photos, my advice is avoid usb sticks and similarly usb-powered external disks. What I do is trust LaCie products or analogous mains-powered storage units for my galleries. Peace of mind.

 

[Fishrrman]

Are the photos in an "Apple library" (iPhoto or Photos)?
Or... are they stored in some other way?

How LARGE is the photo library?

We need to know this information.

What I would suggest:
Get TWO external USB3 (or USB3.1 gen2) drives (not just one, but two).
The primary drive could be an SSD, the secondary backup could be a platter-based drive.

If the library the photos are currently in is Apple-created, then you might think about exporting them (rather than leave them in an iPhoto/Photos library, which makes individual pics all-but impossible to find "using the finder").

Do the export to the first of the two drives.
Get the pics arranged as you wish on that drive.
(this may take some time, but it's one of those things that has to be done).

Then...
Use either SuperDuper or CarbonCopyCloner to "clone" the contents of the first drive to the second drive, SO THAT YOU HAVE A BACKUP.

Those pics ARE NOT SAFE so long as they "exist" on only one drive.
You need a second one, at least.

Final thought:
If you WANT the pics to REMAIN in an Apple-type "library", you could just copy the "iPhoto/Photos" library folder (this actually appears as "just an icon" in your home/pictures folder) to BOTH external drives. But remember that if you update ONE drive (your primary-external storage), you need to run a backup to your secondary backup in order to keep it "current".